FALLING ANGELS by Tracey Chevalier.
FALLING ANGELS
Tracey Chevalier.
This novel tells the story of two families, covering a period from the end of the Victorian and into the Edwardian eras. The author highlights the many social changes through this decade, including the customs and etiquette of mourning and the beginnings of the suffragette movement.
The Colemans and the Waterhouses first meet at a cemetery whilst mourning the death of Queen Victoria. Their family burial plots are next to each other and, despite their very different personalities, the two young daughters Lavinia Waterhouse and Maude Coleman begin a friendship which we follow over the subsequent years, as they become neighbours and grow to maturity.
Each of the short chapters is individually narrated by the numerous characters in the book, including not only the members of the two families but also the household staff and the graveyard employees. The Page Turners agreed that this method of writing gave the impression that the characters were addressing you personally and, as such, were extremely well portrayed. We got to know them very well and very quickly with varying perspectives from the character’s different social backgrounds.
However some of the Page Turners felt there were too many storylines that were only touched upon and not developed sufficiently and as such, preferred the author’s previous novel ‘The Girl with the Pearl Earring’.
Generally it was agreed that the book was very well written, descriptive and a good read which can be recommended. The scores ranged from 7 to 9 giving an overall score of 7.6.
Our thanks to May for the delicious home made ginger cake and other goodies which we all enjoyed following our lively discussion about this novel.